James Kicklighter on Clubhouse

Bio

Reader & traveler. 🎬 Director of The Sound of Identity & The American Question (2021). Learn more at JamesKicklighter.com

In Summer 2021, Shout! Studios will release The Sound of Identity, winner of the 2020 OUTShine Film Festival's Programmers Award for Excellence. In the spotlight of global media coverage, Lucia Lucas, the first transgender woman to perform as Don Giovanni in a professional opera, makes her historic debut in one of the reddest states in America.

From director James Kicklighter, The Sound of Identity is produced by Emmy Award-winning producers Russ Kirkpatrick & Andy Kinslow and executive producer Josh Bachove (Minari, The Nowhere Inn, The Little Hours).

In February 2020, Kicklighter completed principal photography on his multi-year documentary The American Question, which began post-production in June 2020.

Following numerous subjects since December 2016, the film examines the root of American polarization and the repercussions of eroded civic institutions, public trust and leadership.

Guided by an all-star lineup of experts, including Amy Chua (Day of Empire), Colin Woodard (American Nations), Yuval Levin (The Fractured Republic) and Yascha Mounk (The People vs. Democracy), we examine the broader arc of history and discover new revelations about the shared values system that binds society together in times of triumph and turmoil.

Kicklighter directs The American Question with a creative team including producer Guy Seemann, an international political consultant, and editors J.D. Sievertson ("Cosmos," "The Story of God with Morgan Freeman") and Carlos Puga, the Emmy-award winning producer of MTV’s “True Life,” and recent SXSW Jury Award Winner and Sundance Jury Nominee.

Director James Kicklighter volunteers with AMBITION, a Los Angeles-based program that teaches entrepreneurial skills to low-income students.

Additionally, he serves on the Advisory Board for the Department of Communication Arts at Georgia Southern University, his alma mater. He was recently chosen out of over 30,000 living graduates to be listed on the inaugural “40 Under 40 Alumni.” He was selected for “impact in business, leadership, community, educational and/or philanthropic endeavors.”